THE GILDED AGE
1876-1900
Notes by R. Horner and J. Rosenzweig
PPT translation by N. Miller & T. Zigler
Presidents of the Gilded Age
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19. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881
20. James A Garfield, March 4 to
September 19, 1881
21. Chester A. Arthur, 1881-1885
22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897
25. William McKinley, 1897-1901
Industry’s Rise
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-Government promotes business interests
-Corporations appear on the landscape
-Laissez-faire arguments are numerous and loud
-The economy booms, for the most part
-Labor unions form, and major strikes begin to
occur
-The Supreme Court interferes primarily on
behalf of rich men and their corporations, against
the unions and striking workers
Government Effects on Industry
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-Imposition of tariffs
-Land grants to railroads
-Open lands to the west
(Homestead Act of 1862)
-Loose immigration policy
-Low taxes for businesses
Important "Robber Barons"
http://www.canbyhistoricalsociety.org/railroad/railroadmapof1890.bmp
 - Andrew Carnegie (U. S. Steel)
 - John D. Rockefeller (Standard
Oil)
 -William Vanderbilt (railroads)
 -J. P. Morgan (investment
banking)
Federal Land Grants to Railroads
The Pro-Capitalism Argument
Social Darwinism (William Graham
Sumner)
 -Rags-to-riches (Horatio Alger)
 -Russell Conwell's "Acres of Diamonds"
 -Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth"
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Labor Unions 
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National Labor Union = Founded 1866 –
dissolved in 1872 - - 1st national union
-Knights of Labor (radical objectives): Haymarket
Riot of 1886
-AFL (moderate): Samuel Gompers, skilled
workers only
-IWW (socialist/anarchist): "Big Bill" Haywood
--Railroad Strike of 1877
--Haymarket Square riot of 1886
--Homestead Strike of 1892
--Pullman Strike of 1894
Politics in the Gilded Age
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Corruption in the Grant administration (Credit Mobilier & Whiskey
Ring) means presidents are largely ineffective. Congress rises in
power.
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Money supply is under debate: Specie Resumption Act of 1875
begins the debate. The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 attempts to
compromise.
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The "Billion Dollar Congress" is more active:
 -McKinley Tariff of 1890
 -Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890
 -Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890
 -Wilson-Gorman Act of 1894 (higher tariff)
Agrarian Activists
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Farmers organize (the Grange) and get results in
the courts
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Railroads Co. and Banks are the “enemy”
Peik v. C&NW Railway (1876) States can regulate
interstate commerce if the federal government
isn't
Munn v. Illinois (1877) Local government wins
right to restrict railroad price-gouging
Illinois v. Wabash (1886) Peik is overturned, but
as a result Congress passes the Interstate
Commerce Act to regulate big business
Populists
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Populism rises in 1890s: reforms:
-Secret ballot, initiative, referendum, recall
 -Direct election of Senators
 -Free coinage of silver
 -Progressive income tax
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Policies toward Native Americans
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Sioux in the Black Hills (Custer and Little Big Horn
1876) – Gold in them hills
-Ghost Dancers (Wounded Knee 1890)
-Assimilation (Carlisle Indian School in PA)
-Dawes-Severalty Act ("civilizes" the tribes)
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“Kill the Indian, save the man”
Imperialism and its justifications:
-Alfred T. Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power"
-Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis
-Religious beliefs (tying into "Manifest Destiny")
-Social Darwinism
Spanish-American War
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-Yellow journalism pumps up the public
-Sympathy for revolutionary Cubans
-Sinking of the Maine
-Cuba wins independence (sort of: see Platt Amendment)
-We take Puerto Rico, Guam, Philippines (for $20 million)
We enter the new century having learned the benefits of
imperialism, and having seen the political and social effects
of war.